Oda Hironobu 宏延: Hodogaya in Snow 程ヶ谷の雪 (Reserved)

Artist: Oda Hironobu 宏延 (1888-?)
Title: View of Hodogaya in Snow 程ヶ谷の雪
Date: ca. 1930 (1924 according to Smithsonian website)

Snowflakes fill the skies above this view of Hodogaya, which was historically the 4th of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido, so we cannot help but feel the echoes of Hiroshige and his iconic OG Tokaido series. In addition to the Hiroshige-like title cartouche upper right, we see figures at right who wear straw raincoats, as well as a man who seems to be clearing snow, and to the left two pedestrians with bright yellow umbrellas. The cluster of cozy inns that line the road have the same pitched roofs as depicted by Hiroshige, and little seems changed from the 19th century. What feels updated is the more naturalistic approach that the 20th-century printmakers ushered in, and here the carvers and printers have captured the feeling of a watercolor that the artist had envisioned. The publisher Maeba seems only to have worked with this artist in these rather scarce views that were done before the war. This work even has an edition number, verso, reading 57 out of 500. Not often seen are also the printer and the carver’s seals, lower right, so this must be from the first edition. 

Note that of the limited editioned works that this dealer could find online, all of them had numbering in the fifties. It is very possible that the entire limited edition was never released, and due to the rarity of this work, this may even be considered probable.

Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Some hinging remnants at corners, verso, which show through to recto at corners. Two minor smudges right margin.  Dimensions: ôban (26 x 39.2 cm)
Publisher: Maeba (sealed lower right)
Literature:  See the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art for their Muller Collection example.

Seal: Bird-shaped Hiro artist's seal and printer and carver seals recto

SKU: HRN013